My great, great aunt who was there may have been there for a couple of
reasons. I'm not 100% sure when her mom died, but Catherine may have been as
young as 15. Her mom was dead at least by 1923. I have no record of
Catherine (or any of the rest of the family, for that matter) before that.
So, I guess she could have been sent there kind of as an orphan. My second
theory is that there is Multiple Sclerosis on that side of the family. It
usually doesn't appear til middle age, but who knows, 22 kind of was middle
age for some back then. There always is the possibility, too, that she was
pregnant.

Was your relation at the home on Troy Hill? This has become an interesting
mystery that I look forward to solving. I'm horrible at doing research that
doesn't involve the computer and internet, so I'm going to try all of the
routes that everyone has suggested. That side of the family seemed to have a
habit of sending relatives to institutions- the sister of the one in The
Home, my great grandmother, sent her dad to Mayview.

Thank you for sharing your wealth of knowlege with us- I have enjoyed being
a member of this list more than I can say! When I was stumped last night and
getting frustrated, my husband said, "Email your listers!! They'll know!"

> Jeannine,
>
> My cousin was committed to the "Good Shepherd Home" about 1923. She was
> mildly retarded and had other problems and her mother, an alcoholic drug
> addict was, by this time, out of the picture so the grandparents took
> her there. She remained for her life, which ended in cancer in 1986,
> becoming a nun but not ever being able to take her final vows. We don't
> know for sure why, whether it was her low IQ or if there were other
> factors.
>
> The order that ran the home was Sisters of Our Lady of Charity but most
> people called them the "Good Shepherds" and thought that was the name of
> the order. Susanne will correct me if I'm wrong but I think the records
> are at the Diocese. The Motherhouse is in Greensburg, or was a few years
> ago, but I was told there is no real information in the records there.
>
> They were cloistered for a long time and they took in "wayward girls,"
> some of whom were pregnant and gave up their babies at the Rosalia
> Foundling Home, where my great-grandmother, Elizabeth Hampton Peden, did
> a lot of volunteer work. I remember going to the annual "Open Day" when
> the grounds were opened to the families of the nuns (and the girls? I
> was too young to know) and some of the girls were pretty hard-looking.
> One had her name scratched in her arm and it was all scabbed over. I was
> fascinated and repulsed by it :) In the later years they didn't take the
> girls anymore, but took in elderly people who had no one to care for
> them in their last days.
>
> I'd love to hear from anyone who had a family member in the convent at
> the same time as my cousin, who was called Sister Mary Seven Dolors.
>
> Clare in MO
>
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